As the carriage rattled away from the ruins of Aurion, Rei sat in the corner, his brush moving rhythmically over the pages of a notebook. He was meticulously documenting Pandora's manifestations and the feedback he received from the "Reaper" form.
While Dell watched the scenery, Rei began a new experiment. He tried to bend the light around them, but traditional manipulation failed. Instead, he applied the principles of wave interference—creating "opposite waves" to cancel out the light's intensity. Slowly, the interior of the carriage grew dim, as if the sun outside was being eclipsed by an invisible force.
"By the way, Rei," Dell asked, leaning back against the wooden frame. "Why are you doing this? I mean, emulating magic. You have Qi; you're a natural warrior. Why spend so much effort trying to act like a mage?"
Rei paused. The shadows in the carriage deepened. "I created sorcery so I wouldn't remain inferior," he said quietly. "My sister and my mother... they possess a natural affinity for magic that I can never hope to reach. For a long time, I felt powerless. Sorcery is my answer to that. It's a way for someone with low potential to stand on equal footing with a genius mage."
Dell looked at the blindfolded boy and shook his head. "I think even without sorcery, you'd never be inferior to anyone. But hey, can you teach me?"
Rei nodded. "Sorcery? Sure, The basics of wind sorcery involve using centrifugal force to generate a whirlwind. Once the core is stable, you integrate it into—" He stopped, sensing Dell's expression of utter confusion. "You didn't understand a word of that, did you?"
"I think I'll stick to my bloodline and my fists," Dell chuckled, tapping his new gauntlet. "Can I keep this, though?"
"It's yours," Rei replied.
"We're clear of the Danger Zone!" the driver called out.
Rei stepped out of the carriage into the fresh air, feeling the weight of the land deed in his pack. Once I get the Midgard, he thought, the real journey begins.
In a peaceful neighboring town, the atmosphere was suddenly pierced by the cold presence of the Mystic Church. Hanna and her Paladin companions—Lumina, Grok, and Quin—walked through the market, their eyes devoid of mercy.
"They are all heretics," Grok spat, his hand on his mace. "We need to eliminate them."
"Not yet," Hanna commanded, her voice like ice. "Wait for nightfall. Block every escape route first. I want no survivors."
As the sun dipped below the horizon, the slaughter began. It wasn't a battle; it was a harvest. Hanna stood in the center of the town square, her voice rising in a concurrent chant. Massive pillars of Flames crashed into the buildings, burying families alive. Those who tried to flee toward the gates were met by Quin, Grok, and Lumina, who cut them down without a second thought.
Men, women, and children were executed in the streets. Even the cries of infants were silenced by the "righteous" blades of the Paladins. By midnight, the town was nothing but a tomb of ash and silence.
In a local inn, Kaiser's group sat around a table with the mysterious beggar. The man was calmly tearing into a loaf of bread, looking more like a simple traveler than a divine executioner. It did not seemed like he had any power but there was power within him.
"Who are you?" Kaiser asked. "What you did to those soldiers... a technique shouldn't be able to affect the physical and spiritual worlds at once like that."
"My name is Axel," the beggar replied softly. "I did nothing. It is all God's gift. If the heavens will it, the spiritual becomes physical and the physical becomes spiritual."
Adriel slammed his fist on the table, his Sin of Pride mark flickering. "Don't toy with us, old man!"
Sentry held Adriel back. "Easy. He's being polite, which is more than I can say for you."
Axel finished his bread and stood up. "I heard about the letter you found. I intend to protect the people from the next ritual and slay the monster that devours them."
"We're coming with you," Kaiser said, standing as well.
The group reached the Noble's estate shortly after. A line of guards blocked the entrance, mocking the ragtag group. Axel simply waved his hand. "Sleep, boys. Sleep."
The soldiers laughed and said "do you think we will..." however one by one, the soldiers collapsed into a deep, magical slumber. The group moved deeper into the estate, carving a path through the internal security.
Hella looked at the soldiers and said "I thought it will be a tough fight but you just made them asleep" Axel walked and the soldiers inside charged to attack, Kaiser used one wind slash and sent them flying backwards, Axel was continuing walking and sending people to sleep, Hella was dealing with nearby soldiers who got up after kaiser used his wind slash on them using her sword style and martial arts together, Sentry was trapping the soldiers impaled by Kaiser in earth, Adriel was fighting new soldiers that came.
As they walked towards the area where the monster lived the security was getting tight, the noble had heard of the infiltration and was going by himself to intercept them, Axel understood with so many soldiers his peaceful attacks won't work so he used swords made of spiritual energy and attacked the soldiers sending them reeling and then shook the earth with his spiritual thumping of the staff on the ground making them lose balance.
Kaiser's wind slashes cleared the halls, Sentry's sorcery trapped those who resisted, and Hella's martial arts handled the close-quarters fighting.
But as they reached the heart of the manor—the entrance to the monster's den—the air grew heavy. The laughing soldiers were replaced by an elite guard.
"Halt!" a booming voice commanded.
From the shadows, two figures emerged: a scarred, high-ranking General and the Noble himself, clad in ornate armor.
Kaiser narrowed his eyes, his hand moving to his hilt. "Looks like our work just got a lot harder."